Dealerships scramble to repair Toyoyas

FINGER LAKES—Area Toyota dealers are repairing the vehicles recalled this year.
Phil Guererri, service manager for LeBrun Toyota in Canandaigua, said they have extended Monday to Friday hours from 5 p.m., to 8 p.m. The dealership is also open Saturdays, as needed.
He said the dealership has contacted everyone in their database about the recall, and expect to get people who purchased vehicles elsewhere. Guererri explained they handle up into Rochester, and down into Yates County.
“People just want their cars repaired,” said Guererri. “So they don’t have to worry about it.”
According to Toyota’s Web site, the recall list currently includes:
• 2005-2010 Avalon
• 2010 Prius
• 2007-2010 Camry
• 2009-2010 RAV4
• 2009-2010 Corolla
• 2008-2010 Sequoia
• 2008-2010 Highlander
• 2005-2010 Tacoma
• 2009-2010 Matrix
• 2007-2010 Tundra
• 2004-2009 Prius
• 2009-2010 VENZA
Also according to Toyota, the January recalls are for “floor mat entrapment” and a “sticky” accelerator. The Web site explains an unsecured floor mat can interfere with the accelerator pedal. The second recall concerning the pedal is that in some vehicles, the “mechanisms may mechanically stick” causing the vehicle to speed up.
Jim Kellogg, service manager for Kent Brown Toyota in Elmira said they were extending hours to provide more people with some extra time to get the necessary reparis completed. He explained the dealership had planned to extend hours until 7:30 p.m., Monday to Thursday, and to 5:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, before the recall. However, he added that after the recall, the dealership decided to implement the extra hours a month earlier, starting, Monday, Feb. 8.
Kellogg said that between Feb. 1 and Feb. 11, Kent Brown serviced 164 recalled cars. He added the cars started coming into the dealership as soon as the media reported the recall.
Phil Maguire, one of the owners of Maguire Automotive in Ithaca, said the dealership was told they had 3,800 recalled vehicles within their range. However, he added the dealership has handled, roughly 250 cars so far. Maguire that they are able to do up to 150 vehicles a day, but are doing no more than 30 a day.
To fix the cars that need to be repaired, Maguire Automotive has also extended their hours. Maguire said that Monday through Thursday, the dealership is open 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., an extra two hours in the evening. Saturdays, the hours are now 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., also open an extra two hours longer than before the recall. Maguire explained the dealership plans to keep these hours until they are no longer needed.
In addition to the extra hours Maguire said people can call with the car’s vehicle identification number to see if it is among the recalled vehicles. Their phone number is 607-272-8000. He added this can be done through all dealerships. Maguire explained a lot of people have been calling to see if their car was in the recall.